TOKYO :Japan’s average retail rice prices fell below 4,000 yen ($27) for the first time in four months, data showed on Monday, after the government released an emergency stockpile of rice to tackle food inflation ahead of a national election.
The supermarket price of rice per 5kg dropped by 6.1 per cent to 3,920 yen in the seven days to June 15, marking the fourth straight week of decreases to reach a level last seen in February, according to the farm ministry.
With that, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba achieved a target set last month to bring the price of staple Japanese grain to below 4,000 yen.
Rice prices have doubled since last year, creating a political challenge for Ishiba as he faces an upper house election in late July. The vote could be critical for his coalition’s chances of survival, after it lost its majority in the more powerful lower house in October.
Last month, a new farm minister ended a system of distributing emergency rice via auction and switched to discretionary contracts with retailers so that consumers would pay about 2,000 yen per 5kg. That stockpiled rice first became available through some retailers on May 31, selling out quickly.
Rice prices leapt in part because of a poor-quality harvest due to extreme heat in 2023, which led to a shortage of rice in the market around the middle of last year.
The spike in rice costs has driven Japan’s food and overall consumer inflation in recent months, data has shown, complicating the Bank of Japan’s rate hike schedule as economic pressure from U.S. tariffs looms.
($1 = 147.7200 yen)
